In 1998, Milford, New Hampshire was served by AmeriCable, who was later purchased by Harron, who was later purchased by Adelphia, who went bankrupt. Sale of Adelphia assets is pending governmental approval. Unfortunately, this service had not resulted in local access to production and cablecast facilities. Such access is provided for in the Communications Act of 1934 as ammended in 1984, 1992 and 1996. Milford was awaiting renegotiation of the local cable franchise.
A number of community members signed a petition in support of public access, and an ad hoc committee discussed considerations that the town negotiating committee might wish to include in the process. The cable company pays a franchise fee to the town that is included on each cable subscriber's bill. This fee (which was aproximately $40,000 each year) was added to the general fund for the town to reduce the overall tax burden. The ad hoc committee believed that these funds should be utilized to provide a cablecast capability in Milford as a direct benefit to Milford cable subscribers.
In 2004 the Select Board for the town of Milford decided to establish a PEG advisory committee that included many of the members from the original ad-hoc committee. In 2006 a new public access coordinator was hired for the community. Congratulations!
Contact: Wally Keniston, SweetFERN Media, P.O. Box 430, Ossipee, N.H. 03864-0430 U.S.A.
E-mail: sweetfernmedia@yahoo.com
Back to EMP page or MHS AV Home Page